Revert from win 2000 to win 95

I have an old software program for Motorola Radios that MUST be run in dos.

I own an old PC with win 2000 that I want to revert back to Win 95. I've inserted the win 95 start up disk but since there isn't a dos partition on the hard drive I cannot install it.

Do I need to remove the hard drive and format it in another computer?

Jim

 

If the software just needs a basic form of dos and no drivers, why don't you boot from a dos floppy, whenever you need to use the software. This means you can continue to use 2000 for other stuff.

You can get boot disks from here

 

Thank you.

The program I an using programs frequencies into radios. For it to work properly I need a serial port. With the web page you directed me to, all I need to do is to download the dos file and boot with it?

Thanks,

Jim

 

First off I would go with windows 98 instead of windows 95.

Second, you will have to remove the NTFS partition that Windows 2000 creates because DOS cant see NTFS.
Boot from the Windows 2000 CD and Delete the Partition. Then Reinstall Windows 98.
Actually you can Install 2000 back after that and have a dual boot if you like.

 

Thanks, I'm using win 95 because I have those disc's as opposed to win 98

 

If you need a serial port then a bare DOS install won't do. You will need to load drivers each time, so ssmith10pn is correct about installing 9x (98 or 95 doesnt really matter, they are similar enough for your purposes).

If you want to dual-boot, you will have to install 95 first. You can use the 2000 cd to wipe the partitions, or use the boot discs from the site I gave you to run FDISK and delete them.

I dont know if upgrading to XP would help for running legacy stuff, maybe someone else can shed some light on that because it would be an easier way to do it if possible.

 

OK, I think I'm digging myself into a hole. I removed the HD and formatted it fat32 with another computer and reinstalled. I inserted a startup disc from win 95 and I go nowhere other than the A:\ prompt. I can find the c: using fdisk but cannot access the C drive. I've rebooted with the win 95 CD in the cd drive and still n/g.

I tried installing a boot disc for win 2000 and that didn't work either.

How do I get win 95 on this @#$^% machine?

 

Original Windows 95 Cd's are not usually bootable

Go to the site I gave you and create a windows 98 boot floppy disc. Boot to that and (with the 95 cd in the cd drive) at the A:\ prompt, type "setup ".


That should start the 95 installation. Make sure you have formatted the drive and not just reset or deleted the partition. If you have recreated a partition, you then need to do a full format after rebooting the machine.

Install 95 as usuall until you are happy with it. If you then want to dual boot, you can install windows 2000 later, but in this case you must install 95 first.

 

OK, I did that and placed the win 95 cd in the drive. Still N/g.

Recap........I removed the hd with win2000 and placed into another comp and formatted to fat32. copied all the win95 files to it. reinstalled into comp and booted with the win98 disc previously mentioned. Still n/g. I cannot access the c: drive. I tried to start with my win2000 boot discs but they couldn't see the hd either. It is as though there is a file missing from the hd.

Wait........something is happening. I'll getbach to you.

Jim

 

The boot disk sets up a virtual partition for the install.

Your C:\ is temporarily D:\ and your CD drive is either E:\ or F:\


Find what drive is the CD and type E:\setup.exe

 

How old is that Windows 95 CD? if it is one of the original versions, it will not recognise a FAT32 partition. If memory servers me right, FAT32 only came in with the OSR2 release of Windows 95 in 1997 (give or take 12 months).

I'd suggest

1. deleting the partition with FDISK
2. boot with a floppy that has CD-ROM drivers (Windows 98 start up disk might do. A windows 95 boot disk would be better).
3. switch to the CD drive (may well be C: ) and run setup and let the Windows 95 setup create the partition.

 

My 2 Cents

reformat the drive to FAT. NOT FAT32. go to your BIOS setup by click F2 (if that how your computer gets to BIOS Setup) and make sure that the Hard Drive is the Master Drive. Then check the booting sequence. it should be in this order:
1. CD-ROM
2. Floppy
3. Hard Drive
For this setup.
Now insert the Cd and Windows 95 boot disks.
it should read the floppy and the setup on the cd should appear.

if you still get
A:\>

then check back.
this thing worked for me when i used to run 95 on here. i now run
Windows 2000 SP4 and XP home SP2

 

Sorry but FAT isn't an option.

FAT = File Allocation Table and will be followed by a number (12, 16, or 32 for Microsoft systems).

Basically, FAT12 will only be found on floppy disks, FAT16 was the largest you could use up thru Win95a, and from Win95b and later you could opt for FAT32 if you wanted. Has to do with the amount of space the file system can deal with and FAT12/FAT16 were very limited in the maximum size partition they could handle.